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Tuesday, April 11, 2017

Review: Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett

In this delightfully charming teen spin on You’ve Got Mail, the one guy Bailey Rydell can’t stand is actually the boy of her dreams—she just doesn’t know it yet.

Classic
movie buff Bailey “Mink” Rydell has spent months crushing on a witty
film geek she only knows online by “Alex.” Two coasts separate the teens
until Bailey moves in with her dad, who lives in the same California
surfing town as her online crush.

Faced with doubts (what if he’s a creep in real life—or worse?),
Bailey doesn’t tell Alex she’s moved to his hometown. Or that she’s
landed a job at the local tourist-trap museum. Or that she’s being
heckled daily by the irritatingly hot museum security guard, Porter
Roth—a.k.a. her new arch-nemesis. But life is whole lot messier than the
movies, especially when Bailey discovers that tricky fine line between
hate, love, and whatever-it-is she’s starting to feel for Porter.

And
as the summer months go by, Bailey must choose whether to cling to a
dreamy online fantasy in Alex or take a risk on an imperfect reality
with Porter. The choice is both simpler and more complicated than she
realizes, because Porter Roth is hiding a secret of his own: Porter is
Alex…Approximately.

Review:
I don't usually say this but the last few YA contemporaries I've read have been glorious! I think part of their appeal for me is that they're standalones. One book and you're done. I can't remember the last time I read a standalone book before I started my ARCs for this last month.

Alex, Approximately was the YA You've Got Mail retelling I never knew I needed until I picked it up. Despite Jenn Bennett being one of my favorite authors, I was kind of nervous going into this book. You've Got Mail is one of my top five favorite rom-coms so I was worried I was going to overhype myself for the story and be disappointed. But Bennett totally pulled it off! This classic hate-to-love story felt fresh and modern while staying true to the original!

This book was everything I love in a contemporary romance! It was swoony and the romance was everything! It's a classic hate-to-love story with the requisite witty banter between Porter and Bailey! The quips they volleyed back and forth were clever and those scenes were adorable! I loved that they manage to stump one another every once in a while and it just added to the dynamic. And hallelujah! There's no instalove in sight with this book. We get to watch Bailey and Porter's relation change over the course of a summer and it felt completely realistic and unrushed. Also, like Bennett's other YA contemporary, this book was very sex positive! There are open and honest conversations about and portrayals of sex, masturbation, and female pleasure in this book and we need so much more of that in YA.

I could continue to gush about the romance but there were so many other great things that worked with it to make the book so amazing. There's great friendships and awesome family dynamics! It was so refreshing to read a YA book that didn't have absentee parents! I seriously loved Porter and Bailey's families! Bailey’s dad is wonderfully nerdy and earnest and obsessed with Settlers of Catan. He was such a fun character to read! Porter’s family was just as great! They're a surfing family and I loved
seeing their interactions in their shop and at home.

The other great thing in this book is the setting! The small town California atmosphere worked so great and only added to the story. I LOVED the museum Bailey and Porter work in! It's a weird mansion-turned-museum that was delightfully strange and quirky! It was almost like it was another character in the book!

If you can't tell by all of my gushing, I ADORED THIS BOOK! If you're looking for a fun summer beach read, Alex, Approximately is definitely one to add to your list!